Carney: Obama helping African-Americans

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday brushed off griping from prominent black leaders that President Barack Obama is taking African-Americans for granted while focusing on reaching out to white independent voters.

Responding to a question about a POLITICO story in which members of the Congressional Black Caucus took shots at Obama, Carney framed the issue as one that impacts all job-seeking Americans and said the issue of race is old news.

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“A lot of people have suffered through this great recession … this is not a political issue,” Carney said. “The American economy is the primary focus of this president and he’s very committed to assisting African-Americans and all Americans.”

He added: “The expressions of frustration that people have over the need to create jobs. We feel obviously as well. But the political analysis you are making is one I remember as a journalist being made when Sen. Obama was running for president. It certainly did not bear out then and it doesn’t bear out now.”

And Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told MSNBC on Tuesday that the CBC will continue to support Obama but signaled members are becoming wary.

“This is support for the president and everything that he has done, but we have to look at the unemployment,” she said. “We need to strengthen the base in every way we can. … I think that is the answer to making sure that people are enthusiastic they can get to the polls.”